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The Battalion
Viewpoint
November 24,1981
Slouch
By Jim Earle
‘'Hear that! That’s an interview I had with Reveille bout the
t. u. game. That ought to lay to rest any doubts that you might
have had!’’
To Tell the Truth: an
old Washington game
By ARNOLD SAVVISLAK
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Some of the shock
expressed in Washington about David
Stockman’s published confessions was ab
out as genuine as the numbers the budget
director brandished with such certitude last
winter and spring.
If it really surprised anyone in this eity
that a federal official was using blue smoke
and mirrors to argue his ease for a given
policy or program, they qualify for the same
naivete merit badge that Stockman gets for
believing he could talk into a reporter s tape
recorder and not have his words come back
to plague him.
What was shocking about it all was the
fact that Stockman gave his and President
Reagan’s political opponents such prime
ammunition.
Stockman was supposed to be smart
enough to know you don’t sell a used car as
the former property of a little old chur
chgoing lady and then tell the buyer as he
drives away that the rattle he hears in the
trunk is only empty beer cans. That is what
shocked the politicians: telling the truth in
public.
If that seems a cynical analysis of the
Stockman flap and of the morality of politic
al rhetoric in Washington, then consider
the following:
— Twenty years ago, when David Stock-
man was 15 years sold, John Kennedy went
up and down the country decrying “the
missile gap” President Dwight Eisenhower
had permitted to develop in the U.S.-
Soviet strategic balance. After he became
president, Kennedy had his defense secret
ary declare there was no missile gap.
— When Stockman was 18, Lyndon
Johnson warned the country it would be
dangerous to give Barry Goldwater the war-
making powers of the presidency. Shortly
after the election, Johnson began the pro
cess that sent half a million U.S. troops to
Vietnam.
— When Stockman was 22, Richard Nix
on denounced wage and price controls as
unfair and unworkable. Before his first term
was over, Nixon imposed controls and kept
them on until he was re-elected.
— When Stockman was 28, Gerald Ford
asssumed the presidency and announced
that the long national nightmare of Water
gate was over. One of his first acts in off ice
was to give Nixon a presidential pardon.
— When Stockman was 30, Jimmy Car
ter promised to balance the federal budget
by the end of his first term. Carter’s last
budget ended up about $58 billion in the
red.
— When Stockman was 34, Reagan de
clared he would balance the budget by the
end of his first term, and gave Stockman the
job of doing it. It now appears no such goal
will be reached.
The argument may be made that in each
of these cases and in scores of others that
could be cited, the candidates and presi
dents really meant to carry out their
pledges, but facts came to light or circumst
ances occurred that changed the situation.
The argument also may be made that
every one of them had a good idea what
they were saying was either not true or
impossible.
In any case, none of those presidents,
however they may be judged by history,
ever confessed, especially during their
term in office, that they were lying or even
that they had been mistaken. Had they
done so, they would have been taken for
knaves or fools.
Right now, political Washington’s judg
ment of Stockman appears to be divided
between the two choices above. After all, if
a man can’t learn the way the world works
by the time he is 35, is there any hope for
him?
Y
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress
Editor Angelique Copeland
Managing Editor Marcy Boyce
City Editor . . JaneG. Brust
Asst. City Editor Kathy O’Connell
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Sports Editor Ritchie Priddy
Focus Editor Cathy Saathoff
Asst. Focus Editor Debbie Nelson
News Editors Phyllis Henderson
Bernie Fette, Belinda McCoy
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, ■ i.i»cu, Rai. • merits
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Cartoonist Scott McCullar
Graphic Artist Richard DeLeon Jr.
Photographers Rose Delano
Daniel Sanders, Colin Valentine, Greg Watermann
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Program provides misinformation
Editor:
The Friday presentation of the Interna
tional Students Association demonstrated
how easily even liberal-minded professors
can be duped by Marxist-Lenninist prop
aganda to influence U.S. policy in Central
America. The key-note speaker. Dr. Mar
garita Melville, echoed the rhetoric of the
“Democratic Revolutionary Front,” the
support arm of the Unified Revolutionary
Directorate (DRU). The DRU is the gener
al executive body of the El Salvadorian left
and was formed in Havana Cuba in May
1980. (ref.: U.S. State Department Chro
nology on El Salvador, Sept. 1979 — Fed.
1981, pp. 3-18). The DRU also had a repre
sentative on the program panel to support
Dr. Melville.
Dr. Melville wants to persuade us that
the United States should not aid El Salva
dor. Her argument was noticibly void of
condemnation of the USSR and Cuban in
stigation of guerilla insurgency. Should we
follow her advice, the peace would conve
niently be assured by Marxist-Lenninist in
Reader’s
Forum
the same manner as in Nicaragua today.
Congressional mail from many private in
dividuals influenced by such talk can cause
our congressmen to be hesitant to act with
economic and/or military aid necessary to
prevent unwanted Marxists domination.
For the Leftists to succeed it is not neces
sary to persuade us to refuse aid, but only to
create enough dissension that we are un
able to act in a clear, unified, and timely
fashion.
A panel of students chosen to represent
their various nations were not given fair
warning they would be pitted against such
experienced propagandists. Consequently,
the TAMU students were not as prepared
as they could have been with counter
documentation and polemic. However,
El Salvadorians themselves, sitting
audience, made it clear by their qi
ing that they do not share her v
they need U.S. aid.
El Salvador is as near to us as Was!
D.C. or California and a threat for El
dor is also a threat for the U.S. We
ignore the crying needs of our
American neighbors and the current
sian-Cuban subversion. If we do, we
realize we also condemn ourownnal
eventual salvation — Castro style.
Whether the International Si
Assoicaiton planned the program
formation, I do not know. Ho
whether intentional or not, the effi
the same; one of disinformation,
izaiton, and misunderstanding
information, harmony and understani
Dr. Melville said she was very pleased
the meeting.
ford
ither
Gerald [
om
w
i )r. D.
if anti
I
It s your turn
Preregistration lacks personal hclf>
Editor:
Students need more individual attention
during preregistration. We are herded
together and rounded-up into long lines
and are expected to know excatly what
courses we should take without receiving
advice. All advisors do is sign our cards and
send us on our way.
I am a freshman this year and I don’t feel
like I know what courses I should take or
even want to take. I need help! When I
have tried to find my advisor, he has been
out of his office and unavailable for appoint
ment. It is hard enough having to think
about next semester without the added
frustration of not having any help from advi-
should also be credited with many advances
in computer science, defense, medicine,
and environmental studies.
JSC provides many jobs in the Houston
area. It allows for healthy steady growth of
communities that surround the space cen
ter. Closing JSC would destroy a vital part
of the Houston economy.
The government wastes billions of tax
payer dollars each year supporting losing
teams like the Chrysler Corporation. In
stead of closing JSC, the government
should keep together one of the last win
ning teams in the country.
or upset about, for then you willbe“slu| the Ini
too, obviously?
Lynn Hudson
Leatrice Moore
Support Wilson
As advisors function now, they could be
replaced by a rubber stamp. Advisors
should advise. I should not be penalized
because my advisor has too many students
to work individually with each of them.
One solution would be authorizing more
faculty members to be advisors. This might
be a good practice for more departments to
adopt. It would speed up preregistration,
and allow time for more individual atten
tion. I know it is too late for this semester
but maybe some departments might wise
up by next semester’s preregistration.
Frank Fuller
Plantation Oaks
Senioritis
Editor:
Being seniors, the time has finally come
for a letter to The Battalion. So here goes:
Leslie Bruno
1700 SW Parkway
Save space center
1. What fight do Officers of the Day have
asking seniors for proof of their classifica
tion? At the Arkansas game an Officer of the
Day asked us for a senior ring or an ID
before going down to bootline. Unfortun
ately, our rings do not come in until Dec. 10
— some people cannot afford to even buy
rings yet — and who carries an ID down to
bootline? We all can’t wear boots to prove
our seniority, but remember, Ags don’t lie.
Editor:
Closing down the Johnson Space Center
would be the worst mistake made in the
history of aeronautics.
The men and women at JSC wre respon
sible for placing men on tlie moon and de
veloping the first reusable space craft. They
2. In regard to Coach Wilson’s status, if
his job is to be reviewed then so should the
jobs of his assistant coaches. Tom Wilson is
not the only coach deciding the fate of the
football team.
3. To Melanie Baggerly ‘85, when you
graduate in three — count on four more
years — with a 4.0 GPR, I hope that you
never have one grade that you are unhappy
Editor:
I feel the time has come for me to' 1
my opinion on the coaching situation'
exists here at A&M.
I believe that Tom Wilson has doj
good job under the pressures andsitual
that he has faced.
I have seen the results which thee!
ing of head coaches can have on anexefi
football program. I have also seen tM
suits that the type of back-stabbing«
seems to be going on at this universitj
have on a sports program. I hope tM
Board of Regents and their “silentpartl
will decide to keep Coach Wilson. .
I hope he will decide to stay, althoii
wouldn’t blame him if he left for“grej
pastures” where a coach is given tin]
mold a good team. The oldest sayin
coaching is “a coach’s job usually dept
the most on those that know the least at
his job.”
I wonder if anyone remembers thatA|
was picked no better than 6th in theCot
ence. Inexperience is the reason mosl
given for this rating. Well, the Aggies|
have the experience and will be all set
take the conference by storm next yearal
finishing this year at 8-4.
Come on Aggies and alumni, lets beS
portive of Coach Wilson instead of tnii
harass a man who has tried his best to
A&M a good football team and is onp
verge of succeeding.
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